Work

United States National Postdoc Survey results and the interaction of gender, career choice and mentor impact

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: The postdoctoral community is an essential component of the academic and scientific workforce. As economic and political pressures impacting these enterprises continue to change, the postdoc experience has evolved from short, focused periods of training into often multidisciplinary, extended positions with less clear outcomes. As efforts are underway to amend U.S. federally funded research policies, the paucity of postdoc data has made evaluating the impact of policy recommendations challenging. Here we present comprehensive survey results from over 7,600 postdocs based at 351 academic and non-academic U.S. institutions in 2016. In addition to demographic and salary information, we present multivariate analyses on the factors that influence postdoc career plans and mentorship satisfaction in this population. We further analyze gender dynamics and expose wage disparities and career choice differences. Academic research positions remain the predominant career choice of postdocs in the U.S., although unequally between postdocs based on gender and residency status. Receiving mentorship training during the postdoctoral period has a large, positive effect on postdoc mentorship satisfaction. Strikingly, the quality of and satisfaction with postdoc mentorship appears to also heavily influence career choice. The data presented here are the most comprehensive data on the U.S. postdoc population to date. These results provide an evidence basis for informing government and institutional policies, and establish a critical cornerstone for quantifying the effects of future legislation aimed at the academic and scientific workforce.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.40189

Authors: Sean C. McConnell, Erica L. Westerman, Joseph F. Pierre, Erin J. Heckler, Nancy B. Schwartz

Institutions: American Medical Association, University of Chicago, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Washington University in St. Louis

Language: English

Topic: Doctoral Education Challenges and Solutions

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500